♦New York-born Boris Johnson is hot favorite to take over from Cameron as prime minister in September

♦Scotland, which voted overwhelmingly to stay in, is expected to now demand another independence referendum

♦Irish nationalists Sinn Fein, who want to join the Republic, are also calling for a referendum in Northern Ireland

David Cameron, accompanied by his wife Samantha, comes out of 10 Downing Street to address the press on Friday morning

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will resign as prime minister after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Mr Cameron tried to reassure businesses around the world that Britain’s economy was fundamentally sound but world markets were thrown into turmoil on Friday after the final vote was announced.

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump arrived in Scotland on Friday morning and said the British people had ‘taken back their country’, adding: ‘It’s a fantastic thing’.

But Britain’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair said Brexit would have ‘enormous consequences’ and it was ‘very sad for our country, for Europe, for the world’.

Mr Cameron said he would stay on for three months and New York-born Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London who led the ‘leave’ campaign, is the hot favorite to replace him.

Former London Mayor, Boris Johnson

Polls had for months suggested a close battle, although the past few days have seen some indication of momentum swinging toward the ‘remain’ side.

At a referendum night party at the London School of Economics, Kevin Featherstone, the head of the European Institute, said the vote should serve as a wake-up call to politicians across the continent.

‘Wider Europe has got to learn the lesson about how to re-engage with ordinary publics,’ he said. ‘We can see across Europe countries which have been … far bigger supporters of the European Union for a number of years starting to have serious doubts.’

But Peter Lundgren, an MEP from the far-right Sweden Democrat Party, told MailOnline: ‘This is the beginning of the end for the EU. So many other countries will follow the UK. Europe will fall.’
Politicians in Sweden, Denmark, Italy and even Germany may come under pressure to hold referendums in the wake of Brexit.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said the EU assembly would hold an emergency session on Tuesday and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that after ‘the blow’ of Britain voting to leave, the whole European project needed a rethink.

Germany’s Angela Merkel, Queen of the EU refugee crisis

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed ‘great regret’ at the result, but said the EU was ‘strong enough’ to ‘find the right answers’ to the vote.

EU President Donald Tusk, from Poland, said it was ‘a historic moment but for sure not a moment for hysterical reactions’.
Tusk, who had earlier warned that Brexit could ‘end Western political civilization’, said on Friday: ‘Today on behalf of the 27 leaders, I can say that we are determined to keep our unity as 27.’

Merkel, Tusk, French President Francois Hollande and Italy’s Matteo Renzi are planning to meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss the next step.

Mr Cameron has suggested he would delay invoking Article 50 – which triggers formal exit from the EU – until his successor takes over in the fall, but the EU leaders may decide they want a quick and clean break with the UK to avoid continuing instability.

As results poured in, a picture emerged of a sharply divided nation: Strong pro-EU votes in London and semi-autonomous Scotland were countered by sweeping anti-Establishment sentiment for an exit across the rest of England, from southern seaside towns to rust-belt former industrial powerhouses in the north.

Nigel Farage, leader of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), said June 23 should be considered Britain’s ‘Independence Day’.
But in a remark that could prove controversial after pro-Europe MP Jo Cox was shot dead last week, Mr Farage said the country was separating from the EU ‘without a single bullet being fired’.